I came across the Please Rob Me site a few days ago. I don’t use Foursquare, so I felt that Please Rob Me wasn’t relevant to me. However, a friend sent me this article and I’ve given the general concept some more thought.

In case I’m speaking in Pig Latin, I am referring to status updates. When you send an update, you are letting the World Wide Web know what you are doing. In the case of Foursquare and Please Rob Me, you are letting the WWW know that you are not home.

I love status updates and will continue to send I’m not home type updates. However, I do this knowing that I do not live alone and I have a doorman, three locked doors and at least five security cameras between outside and my apartment. If you live in a less-secure situation, you might reconsider broadcasting your empty home to the world.

From the Your Facebook profile: An open invite to crime? article, “Posting ‘My big-screen TV is awesome, wish someone was gonna be home enjoying it, but everyone’s gone for three days’ isn’t the brightest move in the world,” says this one police officer I know from Facebook.”

If your company has a Facebook presence, I am okay with it. However, if your company goes about this presence wrong, I am not okay with it.

If I like your business/product/service and you want me to become a fan of your page, I will become a fan of your page. If I really like your business/product/service and you want me to join a group in support of it, I will consider joining. However, I don’t care how much I like your business/product/service, I probably will not accept your company as a friend.

JCrew is an example of a company that I love and support. Become a fan of the JCrewAholics page here.

The Vourlis twins awoke on the morning of their 20th birthday and logged on to Facebook, expecting messages from friends but instead discovered the horrific news about the accident that had taken their brother’s life the night before. My condolences to the Vourlis family, the Naylor family and the Coleman family.

Please wait until the gel, puss, blood, scrapes and scabs are gone before posting your macho tattoo pictures. Those of us who are afraid of needles might find them interesting if you can wait until that point.

When using a public computer, make sure you log out of Facebook before you leave. When you are on a Mac, make sure you actually ‘quit’ the application, don’t just close the internet browser. If this hit my Facebook ‘wall’ my grandma would be mortified to say the least.

If there is a baby in your Facebook ‘profile photo’, I will assume it is your baby. All of your ‘friends’ will too. We might stalk you for a few minutes to verify the facts and find out how pregnant you got.

Growing up, we are taught not to take candy or rides from strangers. So, I ask this question: Why are people Facebook ‘friends’ with strangers?

Do not feel obligated to accept people’s friendship. If you question how you might know somebody it is acceptable to inquire via Facebook message and to ask your ‘Friends in Common’. Also, I assume this goes without saying but, do not ‘friend-request’ people who you don’t know. If you don’t know somebody and you request them, you are a Facebook Creep.

If you notice that you are friends with somebody who you don’t know, do not feel guilty unfriending them.

There is a time and a place for abbreviations. Sometimes, abbrev’s are funny, other times they’re convenient. However, usually they are annoying, unnecessary and insincere. Abbreviating a post or a text when you are nowhere near the word limit is pure laziness.

Some of my biggest pet peeves are the most commonly used abbreviations…

Thx: You really seem thankful. (Note the facetious tone in my voice.)

Sry: I do not forgive you. I would rather you throw dirt in my face.

Pls: The answer is no. Do not bother asking again.

Xmas: No comment.

Luv: Thanks for demonstrating your undying passion. I probably love you less after receiving this.

When a message is getting to its limit, the first change you should make is to eliminate unnecessary words, then switch and’s to &’s. If it is still multiple characters over, and the information is important, send two messages.

My friend Kelly’s Gmail status: “Thank you, Facebook & TFLN for helping me see exactly how horrible 75% of the people in this country are at spelling.” She went on to say, “I am so irritated. I just want to say COME ON PEOPLE YOU WENT TO COLLEGE. Your vs. You’re is an elementary school distinction.”

This is one of my biggest pet peeves. Don’t get me wrong, I am not perfect when it comes to grammar, punctuation and spelling. That said, there are many things that people could catch if they just took 15 seconds to review what they have written. People have stopped taking the time to do this.

Below I am going to list a few common mistakes, after reading this post, please don’t make them.

Your vs. You’re

There vs. They’re vs. Their

To vs. Too vs. Two

It’s vs. Its

Neither/Nor vs. Either/Or

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